Chief Magistrate Han took his seat behind the elevated walnut bench of the Jiangcheng Municipal Debt & Foreclosure Clearinghouse at eight-fifty-five in the morning. Below him, sixteen regional commercial bank executives, court bailiffs, and financial journalists filled the wooden benches.
At the defendant table sat Chairman Zhao Kun and Patriarch Zhao Tianxiong.
Zhao Kun’s head was wrapped in white gauze, his face pale and sunken. Patriarch Zhao Tianxiong sat slumped in an armchair, resting his chin on his ivory cane. His breathing was shallow and wheezing. Beside them sat Zhao Kai, staring at the polished floor tiles with empty, bloodshot eyes.
Zhao Kun stood up, his voice cracking with desperate energy.
“Chief Magistrate Han! Respected bank trustees!” Zhao Kun shouted, waving a stack of financial charts. “Sixteen commercial banks have demanded twelve billion yuan in margin debt! But twelve billion yuan is a mountain of cash! Nobody in this province can produce twelve billion in liquid cash before noon! Under the Provincial Restructuring Code, the court must grant our consortium a sixty-day debt freeze!”
Magistrate Han looked down over his reading glasses, his expression stern.
“Chairman Zhao,” Magistrate Han said coldly. “Your pharmaceutical warehouses were sealed yesterday for distributing expired cancer drugs. Your public stock is frozen at limit-down. Your credit rating has collapsed to default. Unless twelve billion yuan in cleared cash is placed into the judicial escrow account by nine o’clock, this court will proceed with immediate foreclosure.”
Zhao Kun let out a harsh, bitter laugh.
“Twelve billion in cleared cash?” Zhao Kun mocked, looking around the room. “Who has that kind of money sitting in a bank account? Does Lin Mo have it? Taichu Group is just a local business! If nobody can pay, the law requires a sixty-day stay!”
CREAK.
The heavy double doors of carved oak at the rear of the chamber swung open smoothly.
Lin Mo strode down the center carpeted aisle.
He wore his clean white linen shirt, a simple dark coat over his shoulders, and dark trousers. Behind him walked Su Wan, holding an executive carbon-fiber briefcase, and Shen Qiaoqiao, carrying a thick, gold-embossed binder.
Behind them walked Master Lu Jian, carrying structural blueprints, and Tie Niu, standing tall like an iron tower.
The room erupted into urgent whispers. Cameras clicked in rapid succession.
Lin Mo did not look at Zhao Kun. He walked straight to the plaintiff podium, stopping before the magistrate’s bench.
Zhao Kun still thinks twelve billion is an unreachable mountain, Lin Mo thought, amused by the man’s endless delusions. He measured the entire world against his own empty pockets.
Shen Qiaoqiao stepped forward, lifting the heavy gold-embossed binder and placing it directly onto Magistrate Han’s desk.
“Chief Magistrate Han,” Shen Qiaoqiao announced in a crisp, bell-like voice. “Taichu Benevolence Group, acting on behalf of the public interest and the minority shareholder class, submits an unconditional, immediate cash buyout offer for the entire defaulted twelve-billion-yuan debt portfolio of the Zhao Consortium.”
Zhao Kun sprang from his chair, knocking over his glass of water.
“Lies!” Zhao Kun roared, pointing a shaking finger at Shen Qiaoqiao. “Twelve billion yuan in cash?! You cannot transfer that much money through a regular terminal! It is an empty bluff to stall the proceedings!”
Su Wan did not even glance at Zhao Kun.
She stepped up to the central judicial escrow console, opened her carbon-fiber case, and produced Lin Mo’s Black-Gold Sovereign Benevolence Card.
Su Wan laid the card flat against the crystal sensor plate of the High Court’s central settlement terminal.
BEEP.
A deep, reverberating tone sounded from the courtroom ceiling speakers.
On the massive digital wall behind Magistrate Han, the green judicial ledger flickered, processing the transaction through the Central Sovereign Settlement Grid:
[Judicial Escrow Clearance: Jiangcheng Municipal Clearinghouse.]
[Payer: Taichu Benevolence Group (Host: Lin Mo).]
[Funding Source: Taichu Sovereign Corporate Reserve Trust (¥90,000,000,000.00 Pool — Commercial Asset Acquisition).]
[Total Transaction Amount: ¥12,000,000,000.00 RMB (Acquiring ¥15,000,000,000.00 in Foreclosed Consortium Assets — Host Personal Liquid Vault Unchanged)!]
[Status: 100% Cleared Cash Settled Instantly.]
[Recipients: 16 Regional Commercial Banks & Creditor Trusts Paid in Full.]
The sixteen bank executives on the front benches jumped to their feet, staring at the screen with open mouths.
Their personal tablet devices began buzzing with cleared settlement confirmations from the Central Bank.
“It cleared...” the lead bank president whispered, his hands trembling. “Twelve billion yuan... cleared in three seconds flat!”
Magistrate Han looked at the verified ledger screen, then looked down at the pale, trembling Zhao Kun.
Magistrate Han picked up his heavy rosewood gavel.
BAM!
The strike of the gavel echoed through the chamber like a cannon shot.
“The court finds that Taichu Benevolence Group has satisfied the full twelve-billion-yuan default debt of the Zhao Consortium in cleared cash,” Magistrate Han declared in a powerful voice. “Under provincial corporate law, all corporate assets, thirty-two manufacturing plants, eighteen regional clinics, four logistics centers, and the fifty-story Zhao Family Headquarters Tower are formally foreclosed and transferred to Taichu Group with immediate legal effect!”
BAM!
Magistrate Han struck the gavel a second time.
“Zhao Pharmaceutical Group and Zhao Real Estate Consortium are declared bankrupt and dissolved. Court bailiffs are ordered to seize all corporate seals immediately.”
Patriarch Zhao Tianxiong slumped back into his armchair, his ivory snake cane slipping from his fingers and clattering onto the floorboards. His jaw hung slack, his breath rattling in his chest.
Zhao Kun stood frozen, staring at the digital screen as if looking at a ghost.
Outside the clearinghouse gates on the rain-swept avenue, two hundred workers stood in a silent, anxious crowd.
They were laboratory technicians, research assistants, nurses, and warehouse clerks from Zhao Pharma. They wore faded work jackets, holding damp cardboard boxes packed with their personal belongings.
Their Goodness Scores glowed in honest, hardworking greens between 81/100 and 91/100.
For four months, the Zhao family had withheld their salaries, leaving their families without heat, medicine, or grocery money.
A young laboratory technician with glasses held an eviction notice, tears running down his cheeks.
“Four months of wages... stolen,” the young man sobbed. “My wife is about to give birth in two weeks. How am I going to pay the hospital?”
Beside him, an experienced research nurse held her daughter’s hand, looking down at the wet concrete.
“The Zhao family lived in golden penthouses while we worked seventy hours a week without pay,” she whispered. “And now the company is bankrupt. We are all out on the street.”
The heavy glass doors of the clearinghouse opened.
Lin Mo walked out onto the granite steps, accompanied by Su Wan, Shen Qiaoqiao, and Master Lu Jian.
The two hundred workers looked up, their expressions fearful and uncertain.
Lin Mo stopped at the top of the steps, looking down at the two hundred honest men and women.
The Zhao family thought an empire was made of tall buildings and gold signs, Lin Mo thought, looking at their worn shoes and tired faces. They forgot that an enterprise is built by the people who work the machines and care for the sick.
Lin Mo raised his hand, gesturing for the workers to gather closer.
“Brothers and sisters,” Lin Mo said, his voice clear, warm, and rich. “I know who you are. You ran the research labs. You sterilized the needles. You packed the medicine boxes. You refused to participate in Zhao Kun’s counterfeit schemes, and for that, you were denied four months of your rightful wages.”
The young technician looked up, blinking through his tears.
“Chairman Lin... what will happen to us?” the technician asked in a small voice. “Are the factories closing?”
“The factories are not closing,” Lin Mo answered firmly. “They are being reborn.”
Lin Mo turned to Su Wan.
“Su Wan, bring the allocation terminal.”
Su Wan stepped forward, opening her console.
“What are your orders, Chairman Lin?” Su Wan asked.
“Twenty million yuan,” Lin Mo commanded. “Disburse ten million yuan immediately to clear every single cent of back wages owed to these two hundred workers. That is fifty thousand yuan in cleared cash for each person today.”
Lin Mo looked down at the crowd, smiling warmly.
“The remaining ten million yuan,” Lin Mo continued, “will be used for signing bonuses and equipment upgrades. Every single one of you is hired today by Taichu Group on permanent, full-benefit contracts with a thirty percent salary raise. In addition, the fifty-story Zhao Family Headquarters Tower across the river will be converted immediately into the Taichu Free Worker Clinic & Vocational College, managed by your veteran staff.”
The two hundred workers stood in absolute, stunned silence for three seconds.
Then, wild cries of joy, weeping, and thunderous cheers erupted across the avenue!
“Fifty thousand yuan in cash?!”
“A thirty percent raise and permanent contracts?!”
“Chairman Lin! You saved our families!”
Tap.
Su Wan swiped Lin Mo’s Black-Gold Sovereign Benevolence Card across the console.
BEEP.
A grand, celestial chime rang out deep in Lin Mo’s soul:
[Ding! Detected spending of ¥20,000,000.00 RMB on Worker Wage Relief & Headquarters Conversion!]
[Target Beneficiaries: 200 Righteous Technicians, Nurses, & Laboratory Workers (Goodness: 81–91/100)!]
[Purpose: 100% back wage settlement (¥50,000 each), permanent employment transition, and establishing Taichu Free Worker Clinic & Vocational College!]
[Pure Altruistic Intent Verified: Restoring stolen worker wages, securing labor livelihoods, and dedicating commercial tower to public welfare!]
[Triggering 100x Pure Benevolence System Refund!]
[Cash Refund Received: +¥2,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Funds deposited directly into Host Personal Liquid Vault!]
[Personal Liquid Vault: ¥95,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Personal Wealth Milestone Achieved: Liquid Vault Reaches ¥95,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Benevolence Merit Points: +2,000,000 BMP | Total BMP: 187,949,528 BMP!]
[Good People Network Expanded: 9,830 Verified Righteous Allies (+30 senior medical and laboratory directors formally integrated)!]
Two billion more in cleared cash, Lin Mo thought, watching his liquid vault reach ninety-five billion yuan. Paying honest workers what they earned, and earning two billion in profit. Doing good is the only true sovereignty.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Across the street, two hundred mobile phones chimed as bank deposits cleared instantly.
Workers embraced each other, weeping openly in the rain. The young technician held his phone to his heart, sobbing in gratitude as he called his pregnant wife to tell her the good news.
The research nurse hugged her daughter, showing her the cleared bank alert on her screen. Years of fear and unpaid overtime had finally turned into peaceful security.
Across the river, high atop the fifty-story skyscraper, Master Lu Jian’s construction crews had already swung into action.
A massive crane lowered its heavy steel hook toward the roof.
CLANG! CRUNCH!
Steel cables snapped around the giant, ten-foot-tall gold-plated letters spelling out “ZHAO GROUP.”
With a loud metallic groan, the crane hoisted the massive golden letters off the concrete parapet, swinging them out over the void.
CRASH!
The golden letters were dropped onto a scrap barge waiting on the river below, smashing into twisted, worthless junk.
In their place, workers unfurled a massive crimson banner embroidered with golden thread:
[TAICHU FREE WORKER CLINIC & CIVIC VOCATIONAL COLLEGE]
While court bailiffs were sealing the upper registries, Zhao Kun and Zhao Kai slipped out through the clearinghouse basement maintenance tunnel to an unmarked van they had parked in the rear alley the night before.
From the van’s hidden floor safe, they hauled out four heavy leather suitcases packed with seventy pounds of smuggled gold bullion bars, their clothes soaked in grime and sweat.
Zhao Kai was sobbing uncontrollably, his teeth chattering from the cold rain.
“Uncle... everything is gone! The tower has been renamed! Lin Mo took the factories! Where can we go?!”
Zhao Kun wiped grease from his face, his eyes gleaming with mad, feral hatred. He pulled Zhao Kai down the dark alley toward the river docks.
“Shut your mouth!” Zhao Kun snarled. “We have seventy pounds of gold! Black-Tiger Hall’s armed smuggling barge is waiting at Dock #09! Once we cross the river into Tianhai Capital, the Four Tycoon Clans will shelter us! And on the way out, we will settle the score!”
Zhao Kun stared out through the dark river mist, a psychopathic grin twisting his lips.
“Dr. Gu’s rare medicinal herb transport ship is anchored in the central river channel. In this typhoon, an accidental collision happens every year. We will ram that ship to the bottom of the river, and Lin Mo will watch his precious medicine drown in the mud!”